Clinton, Sharif, Sharon: Vajpayee with world leaders

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Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Ariel Sharon, the then Prime Minister of Israel at Rashtrapathi Bhawan in Delhi in this picture from September 9, 2003. The Israeli PM was accorded the guard of honour. During the visit, many exchanges took place, the visit paved way for a slew of defence deals, notable among them the Phalcon early-warning radar system. ▲

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AB Vajpayee with Nawaz Sharif during the Lahore Summit.
In 1999, there was short-lived thaw in relations between India and Pakistan when Vajpayee took a bus to Lahore in 1999, and hugged Nawaz Sharif, who was then the Pakistani premier. It was a diplomatic breakthrough; Vajpayee travelled with a delegation that included Dev Anand, Javed Akhtar and Kapil Dev. Among other things, it was agreed that New Delhi and Islamabad were fully committed to undertaking measures to reduce risks of the accidental or unauthorised use of nuclear weapons. ▲

Vajpayee also invited the then Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to India for a two-day Agra summit meeting from July 14-16, 2001, in order to discuss cross-border terrorism and Kashmir. ▲

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Vajpayee with Benzair Bhutto, who served as the 11th prime minister of Pakistan from 1993-96. Benazir Bhutto had rallied against India on Kashmir. Responding to her, Vajpayee had said, "It is Pakistan which is flouting the United Nations resolution by not withdrawing its forces from Kashmir." ▲